After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times

Chapter 1222: Chapter 1204: Speed Is of the Essence in War

A young general walked towards Wang Dao and the others. Before long, the Zhao Family Army swiftly took over the nearby roads, hills, and docks. The aristocrats and commoners standing by the roadside and halfway up the hill watching the commotion were gathered to a few locations.

If you want to watch the event, you have to do so in the areas they designated. Randomly standing is not allowed.

The Zhao Family Army, who crossed the river, showed no hostility towards them, nor did they rudely drive them away.

Zhou Yi, mingling within the crowd, saw the Zhao Family Army rushing towards them. The people behind him were a little restless, and many wanted to turn around and leave, but were quickly stopped, "Do you want to stay to watch the event, or leave?"

"Watch the event? We can stay... to watch the event?"

"Yes, but you must go there to avoid crowding and trampling as more people gather."

The commoners, hearing this, immediately became excited. They decided not to leave and followed the guidance to a new location, then continued watching the event on tiptoe.

Zhou Yi, blending in, suspected that the Zhao Family Army was taking advantage of the opportunity to move everyone to observe whether they carried weapons and to familiarize themselves with the terrain.

Sure enough, when the boat docked for the second time, bringing more soldiers, a young general had already led the takeover of the area, with King Langya’s assistant general Zhou Chong beside him.

Zhou Yi couldn’t help but look at the handsome young general and asked the soldier maintaining order next to him, "Who is that general?"

The soldier, glancing at him, proudly said, "It’s our General Zhao Shi."

Zhou Yi mused, a Zhao family heir?

He heard that he was favored under Zu Ti.

Is Zhao Hanzhang placing her forces within various armies?

"Young and promising, I wonder if he is married?"

Soldier: "No."

He scanned Zhou Yi from head to toe, considering him too sloppy, said, "You needn’t consider it, our general has high standards and wouldn’t be interested in ordinary people."

Zhou Yi:... He might be ordinary, but his niece is beautiful, virtuous, and kind.

Zu Ti disembarked on the third boat. Upon his arrival, Wang Dao and Liu Kui went up to greet him. Zhou Yi only glanced at them from afar then told the soldiers around them that he was returning to the city. After evaluating him, the soldiers allowed him to pass.

From the shore towards Jiankang City, for five miles, there was a Zhao Family Army soldier guarding every ten steps, and those traveling could only use the official road, stepping off it would be considered provocation.

Zhou Yi got on a bull cart, glanced back at the orderly shore, and said to his attendants, "Go call Zhong Zhi back, I’ve found Min Niang a good husband."

Despite over a hundred ships transporting soldiers and weapons back and forth, the crossing was only completed by evening, with many aristocrats and commoners standing by the riverbank watching for half the day.

Once everyone crossed the Yangtze River, the shore was filled with soldiers.

King Langya, upon hearing the news, immediately sat up from his sickbed and quickly summoned Liu Kui to ask, "How many people are there? Who is leading the troops?"

Liu Kui replied, "There are two hundred thousand people, Zu Ti is leading the troops. I heard Zhao Hanzhang has appointed him as the Southern Expedition Marshal, with Zhao Shen, Zhao Ju, Mi Ce, and others as generals. Apart from the two hundred thousand army crossing the river, there are another two hundred thousand awaiting orders on the other side, another hundred thousand stationed in Yiyang County, plus another hundred thousand in Jingzhou, including all logistics personnel, there are estimated to be seven hundred thousand in total."

King Langya’s back was soaked, full of fear, "Seventy hundred thousand troops are approaching Jiangnan, yet we received no news. If I don’t surrender, isn’t it..."

Liu Kui softly said, "Attacked from both sides..."

It’s feared Wang Dun hadn’t died, yet they would perish first.

King Langya took a deep breath, suppressed his inner fear, and asked, "Where is Marshal Zu currently staying?"

"He does not wish to enter the city, preferring to camp outside with the army, saying he will enter the city to pay homage to the Great King tomorrow," Liu Kui paused and said, "He wants to bring the army into the city, Governor Wang did not oppose."

King Langya smiled wryly, having brought two hundred thousand troops over, what else could be done but agree?

"Let him enter. You should host him well, as he should not stay long in this place. Wang Dun is already approaching Jiankang," King Langya paused, feeling inexplicably relieved inside, "He thinks he’s a step ahead, unaware that Zhao Hanzhang is even faster. With the tool like Qianli Transmission at hand, who can compete with her? Wang Dun definitely doesn’t know about the Zhao Family Army crossing the river yet."

He truly wished to see Wang Dun’s expression when he received the news.

This is typical: as long as the enemy suffers, oneself is delighted.

Liu Kui silently watched King Langya without speaking, unable to help but rant internally. No wonder he summoned him to speak, not finding Wang Dao, who had reconciled previous grievances. Turns out he didn’t want to gloat in front of his cousin.

The spies Wang Dun left in Jiankang City were bewildered. They rushed to the riverbank to watch for a while, seeing the generals from Jiangbei chatting happily with Wang Dao and Liu Kui, realizing only then that King Langya had surrendered to Zhao Hanzhang, offering Jiangnan.

The spies were shaken, hurriedly retreating, then found a horse to rush towards He Fei, needing urgently to report this bad news to the General.

They failed to notice that two thousand troops quietly decreased from the disembarking soldiers. After Zhao Shi quickly took control of the riverbank, once Zu Ti disembarked, he quietly retreated and walked into the camp being constructed.

The vice general Wu Xiao was prepared, ran over saying, "Two thousand men have been assembled, and there are also two thousand horses."

Don’t underestimate these two thousand horses; with them, Zhao Shi would take away a third of the army’s horses.

Zhao Shi said, "Each person only takes three days’ worth of rations and sets off immediately."

"Yes!"

Zhao Shi didn’t go to see Zu Ti again, grabbed his package, pocketed the written order brought by Liu Kun, and led two thousand troops and horses quietly away.

Speed is of the essence in military operations. Zu Ti’s high-profile crossing of the river and King Langya’s surrender couldn’t be concealed. Naturally, he wouldn’t let the army lose the initiative, hence before crossing the river, he already made preparations, ordering Zhao Shi to assemble the troops immediately upon crossing the river, lead a force towards Lujiang, attacking only Wang Dun’s troops without needing to manage the areas, everything would be handled by him, aiming to leave Wang Dun uncertain about their marching route.

Meanwhile, Zu Ti gradually took over the military control of Jiangnan city by city from King Langya. Zhao Hanzhang repeatedly emphasized to disregard officials at the county level and ensure the garrison troops and generals in each city must be replaced with their people.

Only with military power in hand no one would dare to rebel.

Additionally, Zhao Hanzhang wanted to invite King Langya’s family, Wang Dao, Liu Kui, and the family heads of the aristocrats in Jiangnan to the capital for New Year greetings, as New Year was approaching, and the distance from the capital wasn’t near, urging them to set off early.

The cavalry moved quickly, with Zhao Shi carrying a handwritten order from King Langya. Therefore, all the cities encountered had no difficulty and directly allowed passage.

Thus, two days later, Zhao Shi and his troops reached Zhongli County. Wang Dun hadn’t been idle these past two days, having captured He Fei and three counties in succession, advancing aggressively.

Today he intended to attack Zhongli County; capturing Zhongli would bring them closer to Dayang County, and beyond Dayang was Jiankang, victory within reach.

In this joyful moment, they unexpectedly encountered a cavalry unit they thought was Zhongli’s ambush troops. Without thinking, they raised their blades and charged forward with the assistant general.

Then they were utterly defeated, the originally planned attack on Zhongli County scattering the Wang Family Army, realizing as they fled only then that the flag they bore carried the character "Zhao," not the flag of King Jiankang.